CHAPTER 5

An Act to amend and reenact § 64-25 of the Code of Virginia, relating to
assignment of curtesy. CH 22]

Approved February 5, 1958

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

My That § 64-25 of the Code of Virginia be amended and reenacted as
ollows:

§ 64-25. If the surviving husband be not entitled to an estate by the
curtesy in the whole estate, a court of equity, on bill filed by him, his
guardian or committee, shall have jurisdiction to assign curtesy in any
case when any of the parties interested are under disability or for any
other reason no agreement between them can be made or reached. Curtesy
may also be assigned or recovered in the same manner and by similar
proceedings provided for the assignment or recovery of dower by § § 64-
37, 64-88, 64-88.1, 64-89 and * 64-40, provided that § § 64-39 and 64-40,
as applied to this section, shall be subject to this qualification, that on the
application of a person claiming under an alienation made under decree of
court, or by the wife in her lifetime, a court of equity may grant such
applicant relief from such recovery on terms of his paying to the husband
during life lawful interest from the commencement of his suit on the
value, at the time of the wife’s death, of such proportional part of the real
estate so aliened as the husband would be entitled to have for his life, as
tenant by the curtesy, deducting the value of such permanent improve-
ments then existing on such real estate as may have been made after the
alienation by the alienee or his assigns.

CHAPTER 5
OPERATORS’ AND CHAUFFEURS’ LICENSE ACT
Article I
General Provisions

§ 46.1-348. This chapter may be cited as the Virginia Operators’ and
Chauffeurs’ License Act.

Article 2
Requirement of License

§ 46.1-349. No person, except those expressly exempted in §§ 46.1-352
through 46.1-356 shall drive any motor vehicle on any highway in this
State until such person shall have made application for an operator’s or
chauffeur’s license, as hereinafter provided, and satisfactorily passed the
examination required by § 46.1-369 and obtained either an operator’s or
chauffeur’s license, unless such person shall have been issued an operator’s
or chauffeur’s license prior to June nineteenth, nineteen hundred and forty-
six that is renewable in the discretion of the Division.

§ 46.1-850. (a) No person resident or nonresident whose operator’s
or chauffeur’s license or instruction permit has been suspended or revoked
by any court or by the Commissioner or by operation of law pursuant to
the provisions of this title or of § 18-77 or who has been forbidden as pre-
scribed by law by the Commissioner, the State Corporation Commission,
the State Highway Commissioner, or the Superintendent of State Police,
to operate a motor vehicle in this State shall thereafter drive any motor
vehicle in this State unless and until the period of such suspension or
revocation shall have terminated.

(b) Any person violating this section shall for the first offense be
confined in jail not less than 10 days nor more than 6 months; and may in
addition be fined not less than $50 nor more than $100; and for the second
or any subsequent offense be confined in jail not less than 2 months nor
more than 1 year; and may in addition be fined not less than $100 nor more
than $1,000.

§ 46.1-351. (a) No person resident or nonresident whose operator’s
or chauffeur’s license or instruction permit has been suspended or revoked
by any court or by the Commissioner or by operation of law pursuant to
the provisions of this title or of § 18-77 or who has been forbidden as
prescribed by law by the Commissioner, the State Corporation Commis-
sion, the State Highway Commissioner, ur the Superintendent of State
Police, to operate a motor vehicle in this State shall drive any motor vehicle
in this State during any period wherein the restoration of license or
privilege is contingent upon the furnishing of proof of financial responsi-
bility, unless he has given proof of financial responsibility in the manner
provided in Article 6, Chapter 6 of this Title.

(b) Any person violating this section shall upon conviction therefor
be punished by imprisonment for not less than 2 days nor more than 6
months or be fined not less than $25 nor more than $500, or be punished by
both such fine and imprisonment.

46.1-352. No person shall be required to obtain an operator’s or
chauffeur’s license for the purpose of driving or operating a road roller,
road machinery or any farm tractor or farm machinery or vehicle defined
in § 46.1-45, temporarily drawn, moved or propelled on the highways.

§ 46.1-353. Counties, cities and towns of this State are hereby ex-
pressly prohibited from requiring any other operator’s license or local
permit to drive, except as herein provided, provided that cities, towns
and counties which have now in force or hereafter adopt regulations for
the licensing of drivers of taxicabs and other similar for hire passenger
vehicles and for the control of the operation of such for hire vehicles may
impose and enforce regulations in addition to the provisions of this chapter.

§ 46.1-854. Every person in the armed services of the United States
when furnished with a driver’s permit and when operating an official motor
vehicle in such service shall be exempt from license under this chapter.

§ 46.1-355. A nonresident over the age of sixteen years who has been
duly licensed as an operator and a nonresident over the age of eighteen
years who has been licensed as a chauffeur, under a law requiring the
licensing of operators or chauffeurs in his home state or country and who
has in his immediate possession either a valid operator’s or chauffeur’s
license issued to him in his home state or country shall be permitted with-
out examination or license under this chapter to drive a motor vehicle
upon the highways of this State.

§ 46.1-356. It shall be unlawful for any nonresident whose home state
or country does not require the licensing of operators or chauffeurs and
who has not been licensed either as an operator or chauffeur in his home
state or country to operate any motor vehicle upon any highway in this
State without first being examined for and obtaining lawful possession of
a license as an operator or chauffeur. But any such unlicensed nonresident,
who is over the age of sixteen years, may operate any motor vehicle which
has been duly registered for the current calendar year in the state or
country of which the owner is a resident upon the highways of this State,
for a period of not more than thirty days in any one year without making
application for or obtaining an operator’s or chauffeur’s license under this
chapter, upon condition that such nonresident may be required at any
time or place to prove lawful possession of or the right to operate such
motor vehicle and establish his proper identity.

Article 3

Persons Not to Be Licensed

§ 46.1-357. (a) No operator’s license shall be issued to any person
under the age of 18 years except as hereinafter provided and no chauf-
hard license shall be issued to any person under the age of 18 years except
(1) An operator’s license may be issued to a minor over the age of
15 years and under the age of 18 years upon proper application therefor
and upon satisfactory evidence that the minor is mentally, physically ana
otherwise qualified to drive a motor vehicle with safety. The application
must be signed by the father and the mother of the applicant, except that
if there be only one surviving parent or one parent has sole custody of the
minor, as indicated by an appropriate statement on the application, or if
in any case the Commissioner determines that for good cause it is not
feasible to secure the signature of both parents, it shall be sufficient that
the application be signed by the surviving parent, or parent having sole
custody of the minor, or the parent whose signature can be obtained, other-
wise by the guardian having custody of such minor, or in the event a minor
under the age of eighteen years has no father, mother or guardian, then
an operator’s license shal] not be issued to the minor unless his application
therefor is signed by the judge of the juvenile and domestic relations court
of the city or county of which the applicant resides. Any father and mother,
surviving parent, parent having custody, or, in the discretion of the Com-
missioner, either parent, in case both are not present within the State,
or guardian, as the case may be, may thereafter file with the Division a
written request that the license of said minor so granted be cancelled.
Thereupon, the Division shall cancel the license of said minor and such
license shall not thereafter be reissued by the Division until a period of six
months has elapsed from the date of cancellation. The minor shall be re-
quired to state in his application whether or not he has been convicted of an
offense triable by, or tried in, a juvenile and domestic relations court. If
it appears that such minor has been adjudged not innocent of the offense
alleged the Division shall not issue a license without the written approval
of the judge of the juvenile and domestic relations court making an ad-
judication as to such minor or the like approval of a similar court of the
county or city in which the parent, guardian, or employer respectively
of the child resides.

(2) The Division upon receiving from any person over the age of
15 years an application for a temporary instruction permit may in its dis-
cretion issue such a permit entitling the applicant while having such a
permit in his immediate possession, to drive a motor vehicle upon the
highways for a period of ninety days and to students in a public or paro-
chial school driver training course which has been approved by the State
Department of Education, for a period of 180 days, when accompanied by
eeuved operator or chauffeur who is actually occupying a seat by the

ver,

(b) No minor under the age of 18 years shall drive a motor vehicle
on the streets and alleys of any city in this state if prohibited from so
doing by a proper city ordinance.

§ 46.1-358. The Division shall not issue an operator’s or chauffeur’s
license to any person whose license, either as operator or chauffeur, has
been suspended, during the period of such suspension; nor to any person
whose license, either as operator or chauffeur, has been revoked or should
have been revoked under the provisions of this title until the expiration
of one year after such license was revoked unless otherwise permitted
by the provisions of this title.

§ 46.1-359. The Division shall not issue an operator’s or chauffeur’s
license to any person who it has determined is an habitual drunkard or is
addicted to the use of any drug which may impair the ability of a person to
operate a motor vehicle.

§ 46.1-860. No operator’s or chauffeur’s license shall be issued to any
applicant, who has previously been adjudged insane or an idiot, imbecile,
epileptic or feeble-minded and who has not at the time of such application
been restored to competency by judicial decree or released from a hospital
for the insane or feeble-minded upon a certificate of the superintendent of
the hospital that such person is competent, nor then unless the Division is
satisfied that such person is competent to operate a motor vehicle with
safety to persons and property.

§ 46.1-361. (a) The Division shall not issue an operator’s or chauf-
feur’s license to any person when in the opinion of the Division such per-
son is afflicted with or suffering from such physical or mental disability or
disease as will serve to prevent such person from exercising reasonable and
ordinary control over a motor vehicle while operating the same upon the
highways, nor shall a license be issued to any person who is unable to
understand highway warning or direction signs.

(b) The words disability or disease shall not be construed to mean
inability of a person to hear or to speak, or both, when such person has
good vision and can satisfactorily demonstrate his ability to drive an auto-
ee or truck and has sufficient knowledge of traffic rules and regu-
ations.

§ 46.1-362. (a) The Division shall not issue an operator’s or chauf-
feur’s license or temporary instruction permit to any person, resident or
nonresident, who has been convicted or has forfeited bail within one year
of the application for such license or permit:

(1) Upon the following charges or offenses committed in violation of
any Federal law or law of this State or law of any other state or political
subdivision thereof: (i) Voluntary or involuntary manslaughter resulting
from the operation of a motor vehicle; (ii) Perjury, the making of a false
affidavit to the Division under any law requiring the registration of motor
vehicles or regulating their operation on the highways, or the making of a
false statement in any application for an operator’s or chauffeur’s permit;
(iii) Any crime punishable as a felony under the motor vehicle laws or any
felony in the commission of which a motor vehicle is used;

(2) Upon the following charges of offenses committed in violation of
any Federal law or law of this State or law of any other state or any valid
town, city or county ordinance of this state or of any other state: (i)
Driving while under the influence of intoxicants or drugs in violation of
§§ 18-75 or 18-78 or driving after forfeiture of license for a conviction
under §§ 18-75 or 18-78 or similar Federal or state laws or ordinances of
any town, city or county of this state or of any other state; (ii) Reckless
driving, for the second time, when the offenses upon which the charges are
based were committed within a period of 12 consecutive months; (iii)
Failure of a driver of a motor vehicle, involved in an accident resulting in
death or injury to another person, to stop and disclose his identity at the
scene of the accident.

(3) Upon a charge of operating or permitting the operation, for the
second time, of a passenger automobile for the transportation of passen-
gers for rent or for hire, without having first obtained a license for such
privilege as provided in § 46.1-149.

(b) The Division shall not issue an operator’s or chauffeur’s license or
temporary instruction permit to any person convicted of a crime mentioned
in paragraphs (a) (1) (i); (2) (i) (ii) or (iii) of this section for a further
period of five years after he shall become entitled to a license or permit
under this section, unless and until he shall prove to the Commissioner his
ability to respond in damages as provided in Article 6 of Chapter 6 of this
Title or any other law of this State now in effect or subsequently enacted
requiring proof of financial responsibility.

§ 46.1-363. The Division shall not issue for a period of one year an
operator’s or chauffeur’s license or temporary instruction permit when the
records of the Division clearly show to the satisfaction of the Commis-
sioner that such person has made a wilful material false statement on any
application for an operator’s or chauffeur’s license.

§ 46.1-864. The Commissioner may cancel or revoke any license or
permit issued pursuant to this title, when it appears from the records of
the Division or otherwise, that the information set forth in the application
for such license or permit is false in any material particular.

§ 46.1-365.

§ 46.1-366. The Division may refuse to grant an application for an
operator’s or chauffeur’s license in any of the circumstances set forth in
§ 46.1-56 as circumstances justifying the refusal of an application for the
registration of a motor vehicle.

§ 46.1-867. (a) Any person denied a license or whose license has been
cancelled or rescinded under the provisions of this chapter may appeal
within thirty days from the date of such act of the Division to any court of
record having jurisdiction in the city or county wherein such person resides
except the Circuit Court of the City of Richmond, and such court is hereby
vested with jurisdiction and shall set the appeal for hearing upon ten days’
written notice to the Commissioner, and the court sitting without a jury
will hear the appeal and take testimony and examine into the facts of the
case and determine whether the petitioner is entitled to a license under the
provisions of this chapter. From the final judgment of any such court,
either the person appealing or the Commonwealth shall have an appeal as
a matter of right to the Supreme Court of Appeals.

(b) While an appeal is pending from the action of the Division deny-
ing a license or from the court affirming the action of the Division, the per-
rie aggrieved shall not operate a motor vehicle upon the highways of this

tate.

(c) An appeal from the order of the Commissioner cancelling or
rescinding the license or from the court affirming the order of the Com-
missioner shall not operate to stay the enforcement of the order. The
appellant, at any time after appealing, may apply to the court to which he
has appealed for a stay. The application shall be on motion after reasonable
notice to the Commissioner and a stay pending the appeal shall be granted,
provided the applicant enter into a proper bond to be determined by the
court (not to exceed $1,000) to observe the motor vehicle laws of this
Commonwealth.

ARTICLE 4
Procedure for Procuring License

§ 46.1-368. (a) Every application for an operator’s or chauffeur’s
license shall be made upon a form approved and furnished by the Division
is ee applicant shall write his usual signature in ink in the space pro-
vided.

(b) Every application shall state the name, age, sex and residence
address of the applicant, whether or not the applicant has theretofore been
licensed as an operator or chauffeur and, if so, when and by what state and
whether or not such license has ever been suspended or revoked and, if so,
the date of and reason for such suspension or revocation. Such applicant
shall also answer any and all questions constituting a part of the form
of application used or otherwise propounded by the Division incidental to
the examination of such applicant for operator’s or chauffeur’s license.

§ 46.1-869. The Division of Motor Vehicles shall examine every ap-
plicant for an operator’s or chauffeur’s license before issuing any such
license, except as otherwise provided in § 46.1-349. The Division shall ex-
amine the applicant as to his physical and mental qualifications and his
ability to operate a motor vehicle in such manner as not to jeopardize the
safety of persons or property and as to whether any facts exist which would
bar the issuance of a license under §§ 46.1-357 through 46.1-362, but such
examination shall not include investigation of any facts other than those
directly pertaining to the ability of the applicant to operate a motor vehicle
with safety, or other than those facts declared to be prerequisite to the
issuance of a license under this chapter and no applicant otherwise com-
petent shall be required to demonstrate ability to park any motor vehicle
except in an adequate parking space between horizontal markers and not
between flags or sticks simulating parking vehicles.

46.1-370. No person shall drive any school bus upon a highway in
this State unless such person has had a reasonable amount of experience
in driving motor vehicles, and shall have satisfactorily passed a special
examination pertaining to the ability of such person to operate a school bus
with safety to the school children thereon and to other persons using the
highways. The Division of Motor Vehicles shall adopt such rules and regu-
lations as may be necessary to provide for the examination of persons de-
siring to qualify to drive such buses in this State and for the granting of
permits to qualified applicants.

; j seo oiL The Commissioner shall designate such persons within
this State as he shall see fit to act for the Division for the purpose of ex-
aming applicants for operator’s and chauffeur’s licenses. Any such per-
son so designated or appointed shall conduct examinations of applicants for
operator’s and chauffeur’s licenses under the provisions of this chapter and
make a written report of findings and recommendations upon such examina-
tion to the Division.

§ 46.1-872. The Division shall file every application for an operator’s
or chauffeur’s license and index the same by name and number and main-
tain suitable records of all licenses issued and all applications for licenses
nee, and also a record of all licenses which have been suspended or re-
voked.

ARTICLE 5
Licenses and Badges; Effect, Form, Duration, etc.

§ 46.1-878. The Division shall issue to every person licensed as an
operator an operator’s license and to every person licensed as a chauffeur a
chauffeur’s license.

§ 46.1-874. Any person licensed as a chauffeur under this chapter
shall not be required to procure an operator’s license, but no person shall
drive any motor vehicle as a chauffeur unless licensed as a chauffeur.

§ 46.1-375. Every such license shall bear thereon the distinguishing
number assigned to the licensee and shall contain the name, age, residence
address and a brief description of the licensee for the purpose of identifica-
tion and also a space for the signature of the licensee.

§ 46.1-376. The Division may, in its discretion, issue to every person
licensed as a chauffeur a chauffeur’s badge or may refrain from issuing to
any person such badge. In the event a chauffeur’s badge is issued it shall
be of metal with a plainly readable distinguishing number assigned to the
licensee stamped thereon.

§ 46.1-377. The Division, upon determining after an examination that
an applicant is mentally, physically and otherwise qualified to receive a
license, may issue to such person a temporary driver’s permit entitling such
person while having such permit in his immediate possession to drive a
motor vehicle upon the highways for a period of ninety days before
issuance to such person of an operator’s or chauffeur’s license.

§ 46.1-878. (a) The Division upon issuing an operator’s or chauf-
feur’s license may, whenever good cause appears, impose restrictions suit-
able to the licensee’s driving ability with respect to the type of, or special
mechanical control devices required on, a motor vehicle which the licensee
may operate or such other restrictions applicable to the licensee as the
Division may determine to be appropriate to assure the safe operation of
a motor vehicle by the licensee.

(b) Any person issued an operator’s or chauffeur’s license on which
there are printed or stamped restrictions as provided by this section and
who operates a motor vehicle in violation of such restrictions shall be guilty
of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be punished as provided in
§ 46.1-387, and in addition thereto the Division, upon receiving notice of
such conviction, shall immediately suspend the operator’s or chauffeur’s
license of such convicted person and such suspension shall remain in force
and effect until the provisions of this section have been complied with.

§ 46.1-379. In the event that an operator’s or chauffeur’s license or a
chauffeur’s badge issued under the provisions of this chapter shall be lost
or destroyed, the person to whom it was issued may obtain a duplicate or
substitute thereof upon furnishing proof satisfactory to the Division that
such license or badge has been lost or destroyed or that there are good
reasons why such duplicate should be issued and upon the payment of a fee
of twenty-five cents for each such duplicate license or badge.

§ 46.1-380. Any operator’s license issued in accordance with the pro-
visions of this chapter shall be issued to expire three years from the date
of issuance thereof and may thereafter upon proper application, and in
the discretion of the Division, be renewed without examination of the
applicant. All operators’ licenses issued prior to July first, nineteen hun-
dred forty-six, shall expire on the date shown thereon. Upon renewal
thereof, after July first, nineteen hundred forty-six, such licenses shall be
valid for three years from the birthday month of the applicant nearest
to the month in which application for renewal is made. All original
operators’ licenses issued after July first, nineteen hundred forty-six,
shall be valid for three years from the birthday month of the applicant
nearest to the month in which the license is issued. Thereafter, all such
licenses shall be renewed in the birthday month of the licensee and shall
be valid for three years. Any chauffeur’s license so issued, or any chauf-
feur’s license issued prior to June nineteenth, nineteen hundred and forty-
six, may thereafter upon proper application and in the discretion of the
Division be renewed without examination of the applicant and every such
license shall be issued to expire one year from the date of issuance thereof.
For each operator’s license issued or renewed as herein provided the fee
shall be one dollar and for each chauffeur’s license issued or renewed as
herein provided the fee shall be two dollars. Within ninety days prior to
the date shown on the operator’s license as the date of expiration, com-
mencing with those operators’ licenses shown as expiring in the fourth
month following the month in which this section as hereby amended
becomes effective, the Division shall mail notice to the holder thereof, at the
address shown on the records of the Division in its operators’ license file,
that such license will expire on a date related therein. Nonreceipt of such
notice shall not serve to extend the period of validity of such operator’s
license beyond the expiration date shown thereon. Twenty-five percent of
the fees thus received by the Commissioner shall be used to defray the
expenses of the Division incurred by reason of the mailing of such notices
and oi be in addition to the regular appropriation made by the General

§ 46.1-381. All fees accruing under the provisions of §§ 46.1-379 and
46.1-380 shall be paid to, and received by, the Commissioner, and by him
forthwith paid into the State Treasury and shall be set aside as a special
fund in the State Treasury to be used to meet the necessary additional
expenses incurred by the Division of Motor Vehicles and the Commissioner
thereof in the performance of the duties required by this chapter.

§ 46.1-382. The operator’s license of any person issued under the
provisions of this article shall be held not to have expired during the
period of his service, if any, outside the Commonwealth of Virginia, in
the armed forces of the United States and six months thereafter. Any
person whose license is extended under the provisions of this section shall
have documentary or other proof when operating any motor vehicle that
he is entitled to the benefits hereof.

§ 46.1-383. The Division shall, upon receipt of a record that a licensed
operator or chauffeur has, (1) been convicted of two traffic violations
occurring during a period of one year in which the vehicle operated by
him was in motion or (2) during a period of one year been involved as
driver of a vehicle in two accidents involving personal injury or property
damage in excess of fifty dollars, or having any other good cause to believe
that a licensed operator or chauffeur is incompetent or otherwise not
qualified under this chapter to be licensed, may, upon written notice of at
least five days to the licensee, require him to submit to an examination
to determine his fitness to operate a motor vehicle upon the highways of
this State. Upon the conclusion of such examination, the Division shall
take such action as may be appropriate and may suspend or revoke the
license of such person or permit him to retain such license, or may issue
a license subject to such restrictions as are authorized to be imposed by
§ 46.1-378. Refusal or neglect of the licensee to submit to such examination
or comply with such restrictions shall be grounds for suspension or revo-
cation of his license.

Article 6
Unlawful Acts and Penalties Therefor

§ 46.1-384. No person shall:

(a) Display or cause or permit to be displayed or to have in his
possession any operator's or chauffeur’s license knowing the same to be
fictitious or to have been cancelled, revoked, suspended or altered, or
photographed for the purpose of evading the intent of this chapter;

(b) Lend to, or knowingly permit the use of by one not entitled thereto
any operator’s or chauffeur’s license issued to the person so lending or
permitting the use thereof;

(c) Display or represent as his own any operator’s or chauffeur’s
license not issued to the person so displaying the same;

(d) Fail or refuse to surrender to the Division, upon demand, any
operator’s or chauffeur’s license issued in this State or any other state
which has been suspended, cancelled or revoked by proper authority in this
State or any other state as provided by law or to fail or refuse to surrender
such suspended, cancelled or revoked license to any court in which an
operator or chauffeur has been tried and convicted for the violation of
any law or ordinance of this State or any city, town or county thereof,
regulating or affecting the operation of a motor vehicle.

§ 46.1-385. Any person who shall use a false or fictitious name or
give a false or fictitious address in any application for an operator’s or
chauffeur’s license, or any renewal or duplicate thereof, or knowingly make
a false statement or conceal a material fact or otherwise commit a fraud
in any such application shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon con-
viction shall be punished according to the provisions of § 46.1-887.

§ 46.1-386. No person shall authorize or knowingly permit a motor
vehicle owned by him or under his control to be driven by any person who
se a legal right to do so or in violation of any of the provisions of this
pter.

§ 46.1-887. (a) It shall be a misdemeanor for any person to violate
any of the provisions of this chapter unless such violation is by this chapter
or other law of this State declared to be a felony.

(b) Unless another penalty is in this chapter or by the laws of this
State provided, every person convicted of a misdemeanor for the violation
of any provision of this chapter shall be punished by a fine of not more
than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment for not more than six months,
or by both such fine and imprisonment.

PART III
MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY RESPONSIBILITY ACT